Yet each December, it troubles him that of the roughly 300 pleas that The Gazette receives from families in need, up to half typically go unanswered.

“I find it very sad,” said Katzenstein, 77, a Gastonia attorney. “There’s an additional element of misery that comes with learning that no one cares.”

His own wish is that more people who have the capacity to help – on any level – would actually do it.

“This should be a community of people who hear and do not turn a deaf ear,” he said.

Katzenstein, who has been married 53 years and has three children and four grandchildren, has supported the Christmas Wishes initiative since it began in 1979. Though he is Jewish, he sees the concept of helping others as a trademark of both religions.

“It’s very much a part of my faith and it’s very much a part of the Christian faith,” he said. “I guess you might say I just know it’s the right thing to do.”

‘I had good teachers’

Each year, Katzenstein sifts through pieces of paper on which people have poured out their hearts, and picks out seven to 10 families to assist. He tries to select wishes that other benefactors might skip over.

The appeals have a common thread. They come from people who have lost jobs, battled sickness, or encountered other hurdles that have made it hard to support their families.

For most, having to ask for help is a last resort.

“I recognize it’s really harder for them to ask for the help than it is for others to give it, on some level,” said Katzenstein. “It makes you want to help them all the more.”

Katzenstein is a New York City native whose father hailed from Warren County. He spent much of his time growing up on his aunt’s tobacco farm there.

During World War II, his aunt vouched for many friends who escaped from Nazi Germany, and helped to keep them from becoming wards of the state here. His parents also went out of their way to help others.

“My mother was a great believer in giving to worthy causes,” he said. “I never saw my father turn a beggar down.

“I had good teachers. I’m just trying to give half as much as they did.”

Every little bit helps

Katzenstein said former Gazette employee Dorothy Wallace, who initially oversaw the Christmas Wishes program, was responsible for getting him involved. He considers it “a privilege” to help others.

“If you read these letters, these people have been through a bad time, usually through no fault of their own,” he said.

Page 2 of 2 - Judy Bean, who oversees the Christmas Wishes program now, said there’s a misconception about what it takes to help.

The cost of fulfilling a wish varies, depending on the size of the family and their requests. The average wish requires $200 to $300 to fill. But smaller contributions can be pooled together to meet a larger need. A $20 gift card from Walmart, for example, can be combined with other donations to help a full family or at least their children.

“One of the things we want to convey is that every little bit helps,” said Bean. “One person doesn’t have to fulfill a wish all by themselves.”

Katzenstein said it’s human nature for people to focus more on supporting themselves and their immediate loved ones. But he senses far too many people out there could do more to help deserving strangers this time of year.

“There are good-hearted people in this community who would and should be upset if they knew a lot of these wishes are going unfulfilled,” he said.

You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826 or twitter.com/GazetteMike.